Various detergent compositions known in the art are said to be effective in cool or cold water laundering operations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,557, issued Nov. 7, 1967 to Almstead, et al., discloses built liquid detergent emulsions containing nonionic surfactants and a second surfactant which may be either a sultaine, a phosphine oxide or an amide oxide. U.S. Pat. No. 3,341,459, issued Sept. 12, 1967 to Davis, describes built detergent compositions containing certain alkyl polyethoxy amine oxide surfactants. Also U.S. Pat. No. 3,202,714, issued Aug. 24, 1965, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,281,368, issued Oct. 25, 1966, both to Zimmerer, et al., describe detergent compositions containing amine oxide surfactants having particularly-placed hydroxy groups. The pending U.S. patent applications of Leikhim, et al., Ser. No. 083,907, and Kuzel, et al., Ser. No. 083,908, both filed on Oct. 11, 1979, disclose stable liquid detergent compositions said to provide superior detergency under a wide variety of conditions, including cool water laundering conditions.
Also described in the art are detergent compositions separately containing the essential components herein, or containing combinations of these components different from those of the present invention. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,563, issued Oct. 22, 1974 to Davies, et al., discloses detergent compositions containing a mixed nonionic and amine oxide surfactant system together with alkali metal carbonate builders. U.S. Pat. No. 2,806,001, issued Sept. 10, 1957 to Fong, et al., describes the use of polyethylene glycols in detergent compositions as an antiredeposition agent. Canadian Pat. No. 1,007,134, issued to Heuring, et al., describes detergent compositions said to be particularly effective in removing clay soils from fabrics, containing anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, and the alkylene oxide condensation products of the present invention. All of the above published patents and pending patent applications are incorporated herein by reference.
While the essential components of the present invention are known in the art, it has not heretofore been recognized that their combination results in a detergent composition providing superior cleaning performance in cold water fabric laundering operations.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide detergent compositions exhibiting superior cleaning performance in cool or cold water fabric laundering operations.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide both liquid and spray-dried granular detergent compositions capable of delivering the above-described benefits.
These and other objects are achieved by the compositions of this invention, as hereinafter described.